The
line between science and religion is thin and always moving. There is always
danger for those who step between the literal interpretation of the Biblical
books and experimental science. Witness the minor hubbub today caused by
those politicians who insist Creationism be taught in schools. It’s hard
to believe that the first trial for heresy was over the belief that the
Sun orbited the Earth.

Kim
Stanley Robinson has a unique look at the first modern scientist, inventor
of the telescope, discoverer of Jupiter’s moons, and a man whose ideas
form the background that Newton used to develop his physics. Galileo Galilei
was impossible to like. Egocentric, and manic-depressive. He boast of sleeping
with over two hundred women, but never married the mother of his children
and sent his bastard daughters to a nunnery as soon as they were old enough.
He was also subject to epileptic comas. Mr. Robinson uses these comas to
create
Galileo’s Dream (hard from Bantam Spectre) in which the
scientist is sent to the far future to meet with the inhabitants of the
Galilean Moons who are obsessed with the discovery of intelligence at the
depth of Europa’s ocean. The tale follows the real historical events
from Galileo’s discovery of the telescope, through the trial for heresy
in which he actually lied under oath to save himself, through his death.
In the far future, he adapts quite well to a society with space ships and
lower gravity habitations. This is an obvious award nominee, but I had
trouble putting the two pieces together in my mind.

If
USA channel picked a paranormal series to base a new television series
on, they couldn’t go wrong with Carrie Vaughn’s tale of minor celebrity,
radio host, and outed werewolf, Kitty Norville. The latest has her agreeing
to be in a reality tv show in which vampires, werewolves, psychics, and
real magicians try to convince a real skeptic without actually showing
their true faces. Kitty’s House of Horrors (paper from Grand Central
Publishing) is set in the mountains far from civilization and the producers
have more in store for the participants than a simple tv show. The usual
fun that has me grabbing for the latest adventure as soon as it arrives.

Laurell
K. Hamilton was one of the originators of the trend and the one who pushed
it into soft porn. Merry the detective, fairy princess, spent the first
few books of the series trying to get pregnant with multiple partners.
Now she is back in LA and the case of Devine Misdemeanors
(hard from Random House) has to do with murdered miniature fairies arranged
to mimic paintings. The porn is kept to a minimum and can be skimmed over,
and the case is a real mystery. Fun.

There’s
a war brewing between the five settled worlds and, in fact, two armada’s
are within months of one another. Genetic engineering is at the heart of
the dispute-- i.e, how much control should there be. Lopali was created,
low gravity and all, to be the home of people adapted to fly, but the wingmakers
made them sterile. In the third book of Brenda’s tale of six genetically
modified orphans who had been left on a small colony that hated genetic
engineering. In Wings of Creation (hard from Tor), Joseph, with
his ability to fly in the data streams, might be able to correct the wingmakers
mistake and restore the ability of the fliers to have children. Politics
rears its ugly head and the fliers, who never fight, are caught between
those who want the status quo to continue, and those who welcome the change;
between those who want Lopali to pick sides in the coming war, and those
who want Lopali to stay neutral. This intense read didn’t always work
for me, but I’m interested enough to continue with the series.

Mike
Resnick has been writing a series about a naval ship of the far future
gone rogue, the Theodore Roosevelt and its heroic commander Wilson Cole,
who have tried their luck at being pirates, mercenaries, and then rebelling
against the Republic, gone corrupt. Now as a
Starship: Flagship
(hard from Pyr) they have to somehow bring down the corrupt government.
It’s a million to one shot with a few thousand ships fighting millions.
But Mr. Resnick has a rabbit to pull out of his hat at the last moment
and, of course, ends the series happily. Fun, and difficult to put down.

Steven
Brust’s long running series about a Gangster in a magical world has Vlad
Taltos dealing with the lawyers of the clan Iorich (hard from Tor)
which brings vlad back to the capital city when war leader and close friend
of the Empress, Aliera e’Kieron is arrested and refuses a lawyer. The
politics have to do with a Jhereg plot that Vlad has to get to the bottom
of while still being hunted by Jhereg assassins. I wouldn’t start reading
the series with this tale, but fans will be overjoyed to get it. It’s
easily the best tale in a while, and bodes well for the remaining tales
to be told.

The
funnest aliens of Larry Niven’s known space series were the Puppeteers,
the ultimate cowards who have sent their worlds fleeing the galaxy when
they learned it was slowly exploding, and the Pak Protectors, the ultimate
aggressors who constantly blow up their own world, and who also are fleeing
the galactic explosion. Now Mr. Niven and Edward M. Lerner tell how, despite
the vastness of space, the Pak are on collision course with the Puppeteer’s
worlds. Our human hero, Sigmond Ausfaller, has to somehow, with one ship,
turn the Protector fleet around and stop the Destroyer of Worlds
(hard from Tor). There is no retelling of previous Niven tales, and the
result is a fun read and a nice conclusion to this prequel series.

I
bought two hardcovers at the last Philcon. L. E. Modesitt, jr. remains
my favorite author and his latest continues the tale of Rhenn, a portraitist
who discovered he had imager abilities and was forced into the imager guild
far older than most. In the latest he has been assigned as the imager liaison
to the Civil patrol and his first duties include working with and observing
the normal patrol activities, including patrolling. That brings him to
the attention of one of the gang leaders, and some of the corrupt officers.
In addition he has to solve the Imager’s Challenge
(Tor) of a
high holder who wants to destroy him and his family. There’s a war breaking
out and one of the religious groups favors the enemy and is not above causing
riots to weaken Rhenn’s city-state. L. E. Modesitt, jr’s solid
integration of magic into the social strata is here as expected and I love
this series.

Shirley
Rousseau Murphy’s latest mystery with talking cats is here. Joe Grey
is coming back with mice in his mouth, when he finds evidence of a murder
in a deserted swimming pool. Later another cat is hurt by the murderer
and it’s a case of Cat Striking Back (William Morrow) is this
latest adventure. I got addicted to these when I got review copies of the
first three and I’ve been buying them ever since.

In
Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough’s far future, cats use telepathy
to talk only because they have been exposed to a sparkling beetle Catalyst
(hard from Del Rey) brought by a cat from a cat-run world. Government runs
amok, when vets see the remnants of the sparkle in horse dung and round
up all animals who may have been infected. Caught up in the mess is Chessie,
a barque cat with a pedigree of keeping pests down and finding oxygen leaks
in starships. Add in her son Chester who is one of the first to bond to
a human because of the beetle; Jubal his bond mate who tries to rescue
him; Carlton Pontius, Jubal’s father, who starts the tale by kidnapping
Chessie; and Pshaw-Ra the cat who is so much more. This is the start of
a new series that is a bit silly with an overly complicated background.

I bought three books in electronic form
this month.

Patricia
Briggs latest
tale of Charles, enforcer of the American werewolves and Anna, his love
and an Omega brings them to Seattle so that Charles can chair a conference
of foreign werewolves and talk them into going along with his father’s
intention of outing werewolves to the world. Then someone hires a vampire
hit team, determined to destroy the conference. Was it the French alpha
known as the beast who loves to hunt humans, the British ex-archaeologist
alpha who believes he is the reincarnation of King Arthur and has Excalibur
to prove it, or one of the fae who are already outed but who cannot break
their word. Hunting Ground (paper from Penguin) is a lot of fun
and I’m looking forward to more of Charles and Anna’s adventures.

In
Morganville, the vampires that run the small texas town don’t go to the
college that brought Claire in the first tale since they only come out
at night when they demand tribute in blood from the townsfolk. In the sixth
tale, Bishop might be dead, but the problems he left behind remain. There’s
someone new in Clair’s life, Kim, and she has usurped one of Claire’s
best friends. At the same time someone has wired the town with video cameras.
If the secret’s of the Morganville vampires get out will the town do
a Fade Out (paper from Penguin) I don’t know where Rachel Caine
is going with this fun teenage tale, but she has me hooked.

Libba
Bray has definitely channeled Philip K. Dick in her tale of Cameron, a
teenager dying of mad cow disease in texas. Then an angel tells him that
if he can locate a Professor X who has opened a door to other universes,
he may be able to find a cure. So he and his dwarf friend from the next
bed start off Going Bovine (hard from Random House, Inc./Delacorte
Books for Young Readers) on an expedition across the country. First they
go to Mardi Gras where they find an ancient musician, then they lose their
bus and end up in a camp dedicated to happiness where you always bowl a
strike in their alleys. Add in Baldur, a gnome on a quest to return home
and who has been disguised as a lawn gnome, and a mad party in Daytona
with Reality tv producers and makes for a very weird ride. Fun and disquieting.
No for your average kid.

Baen
has reprintedJohn Ringo and Travis S. Taylor’s latest tale of
earth’s only starship, Claws that Catch (paper). Tor has reprinted
Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter’s look at what happens when people
can lose their privacy by looking into The Light of Other Days in
trade paper.

The
Science Fiction Society will have its next meeting on December11th
at 8:00p.m. at The Rotunda on campus of the University of Pennsylvania..This
is the annual election meeting. Guests are welcome, but may be confused.